ASSAULTS have increased “significantly” in Irvine town centre according to a new police report.

The report, presented at the most recent meeting of Irvine Community Council, showed that in the town centre area of Ward 1 assaults had risen from 19 in February 2013 to 28 in the same month this year.

Most of the assaults were revealed to not have taken place out on the streets but in houses.

However in Ward 2 assaults had dropped from 14 to seven in the same period despite the area being regarded as more problematic by the police.

There was also an encouraging drop in vandalism and damage to property in both wards but particularly Ward 1 which saw vandalism decrease from 42 to 24.

No robberies were reported at all in the area with housebreaking and drugs misuse also seeing a drop.

The report showed overall that there were 313 reported crimes in both wards with 183 detections, a decrease from last year.

Inspector Joe Conway of North Ayrshire Police was on hand to present the figures to the Community Council and insists officers will be continuing with their work in the community.

He said: “There’s no rhyme nor reason as to why there was such a significant increase in Ward 1 but I can say that this happened across the Wards where we had a particularly busy month.

“These assaults are happening throughout the week over the seven days, not just at weekends and they’re taking place within people’s homes not on the streets.

“With the exception of assaults everything else is down and it’s encouraging to see drops in crime in Ward 2 where there tends to be more problems.

“We’re continuing with our work with the stop and search activity and if we stop certain people at the right place, at the right time then we can definitely reduce the number of assaults that take place.”